SAN JOSE — In a regular Saturday morning phone call, Mayor Sam Liccardo seeks advice from two registered lobbyists, two former city councilmen and a San Francisco consultant — a “kitchen cabinet” he’s taken pains to hide from the public.

Liccardo’s private conference call, which covers topics ranging from political strategies to media relations, includes prosecutor and former councilman David Pandori, land use lobbyist Erik Schoennauer, political consultant Eric Jaye, lobbyist Jude Barry, former councilman Pete Constant and two Mayor’s Office staffers — Jim Reed and Ragan Henninger. This newspaper learned about the call from an outside tip following an article on lobbying.

While it’s not unusual for large-city mayors to lean on a group of confidants for guidance, Liccardo’s weekly conference call with advisers who call it the “kitchen cabinet” has raised eyebrows around City Hall for a couple reasons: The advisory group, though bipartisan, is heavily white, male and business-oriented, leading some to suggest he’s getting a narrow spectrum of viewpoints. And the group includes lobbyists whose clients often have lucrative business before the mayor and City Council, but neither they nor Liccardo have disclosed their weekend discussions publicly, despite city rules that suggest they should.

“If they are discussing city business,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School and president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission, “the people have a right to know.”

San Jose adopted sweeping “sunshine” laws nearly a decade ago requiring lobbyists to register with the city and file quarterly reports disclosing discussions with elected leaders. The open-government rules also called for the mayor and council members to post their official calendars disclosing all “city-related appointments” online and update them weekly, though a review by this newspaper found many routinely omit phone calls.

Liccardo, who previously insisted he discloses all his calls, said he consulted with the city attorney about the weekend cabinet calls. City Attorney Rick Doyle said “political advice” is exempt from the city’s disclosure rules because “I don’t interpret that as city-related business.”

“It was made clear to me it was well within the spirit and the letter of the rules for me to have those candid conversations without recording each and every one of them,” Liccardo said.

The lobbyists in Liccardo’s cabinet said they don’t disclose the call because no clients’ business is discussed.

Liccardo said the calls nearly every Saturday cover “big picture issues and politics,” including public safety, better use of technology and community engagement. But with two registered lobbyists on the call, Liccardo was quick to say they don’t discuss items related to their clients.

The two lobbyists on the call — Schoennauer and Barry — represent half a dozen issues that have come up for recent council votes. Schoennauer, whose father was the city’s planning director for nearly two decades, lobbies for more than 20 land use projects, developers and landowners, including the owners of Bay 101 casino and Winchester Ranch mobile home park. Barry represents Google Fiber and Airbnb.

The “kitchen cabinet” originally referred to the advisers President Andrew Jackson turned to when his official cabinet was riven by political rivalries.

One topic Liccardo’s kitchen cabinet gabs about often is his often-tense relationship with news reporters. When asked about it, Liccardo took a punch at lobbyists Tom Saggau and Dustin DeRollo, who represented labor unions during contentious pension reform settlements. “We might discuss, for example, that Saggau & DeRollo are out there feeding misinformation to folks in the media and how we can get accurate information out there,” Liccardo said.

Saggau, who was unaware of the cabinet calls, said he’s “flattered” that “our firm’s work is a topic of discussion amongst Mayor Liccardo and our lobbyist colleagues.”

“I just hope they’re not spending too much time kibitzing about our work instead of focusing on how to reduce crime, build affordable housing and improve traffic,” Saggau said.

Most longtime City Council members, including Vice Mayor Rose Herrera, Councilmen Ash Kalra, Don Rocha and Pierluigi Oliverio, were unaware of the mayor’s Saturday conference calls.

Liccardo’s critics say he didn’t publicly disclose his kitchen cabinet because of who’s on it.

“The group is obviously not progressive in its political orientation,” said Ben Field, executive director of the South Bay Labor Council, which opposed Liccardo’s election in 2014.

Former mayor Chuck Reed didn’t have such a kitchen cabinet. He relied on a few topic experts outside City Hall when certain issues arose — but, unlike Liccardo, he didn’t regularly consult with a standing group of people or have a recurring phone call.

Reed’s predecessor — former Mayor Ron Gonzales — did have similar though less frequent meetings with trusted advisors. But back then the city didn’t have the slew of transparency rules it has today. Elected officials weren’t required to post their calendars online.

“We met probably two to three times a year,” said Gonzales. He wouldn’t identify his confidants but said they discussed a wide variety of “key topics for the future of San Jose.”

Each person on Liccardo’s kitchen cabinet has deep political roots and a long-standing relationship with the mayor — which could play a critical role in his re-election campaign in three years.

“This tells us who the mayor is listening to most,” said Terry Christensen, a political-science professor emeritus at San Jose State. “And some people are not going to be pleased or impressed by that list.”

Liccardo said he picked people who are “smart and trustworthy” but who can also give him a reality check.

“I look for people who have the self confidence to be able to disagree with me and accept when I don’t take their advice,” Liccardo said.

One person that didn’t make the kitchen cabinet is former Mayor Tom McEnery, who said he kept a similar advisory group that included Lew Wolff, now Oakland A’s co-owner, developer Steve Schott and a couple aides. And he’s somewhat glad.

“I like to think he likes me too much to put me on anything like that,” McEnery said with a chuckle. “You want people who will give you advice even if it’s not favorable to them.”

David Pandori — Democrat. Former District 3 councilman. Current Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney. Unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2006. Former staffer to former Mayor Tom McEnery.

Erik Schoennauer — Democrat. Registered lobbyist and land use consultant. Son of Gary Schoennauer, former city planning director. Former staffer to former Mayor Tom McEnery and former Councilwoman Pat Dando. Also worked for city’s redevelopment agency.

More in Politics

President Donald Trump's latest barrage of tweets attacking investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election stretched the bounds of credulity, from false claims that "no crime" had been uncovered to assertions that his campaign had been cleared of collusion with Russia.

In a series of weekend tweets naming Mueller for the first time, Trump criticized the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and raised fresh concerns about the objectivity and political leanings of the members of Mueller's team.